Stone Ruination IPA

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Escondido, California USA

Bottle, pours dark copper. Grassy hop aroma with citrus notes. Yes this beer captures the essence of hops. It is balanced with caramel notes.

Now this is a very well self explained beer. Pours a hazy orange with thick white head. Aroma of hops, hops, hops, and some grass and citrus. Flavor is dominated by hops, but grass and caramel are apparent also. Strong bitter aftertaste sticks around for a while. A nice brew, but not one that I would drink very often.

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a pale orange with frothy white head. Aroma is of course extremely hoppy, a lot of pine and citrus. Very biting aroma, not a lot of sweetness to balance it out. Taste is more of the same...very bitter, with big hop bite and pine/citrus taste. A bit of malt to balance, but not as much as something like HopSlam. Definitely a "west coast" DIPA, with much more bite and not as much balance. Crisp, carbonated mouthfeel. Pretty quenching, and becomes more balanced as I drink it and it airs out. Very nice DIPA, but definitely an acquired taste.

Bottle, slightly chilled. Pours into a pint glass a golden orange, with a finger-thick, creamy white head that settles in for the long haul. Nose is very citrusy...in fact quite a bit more fruity than most IPAs I’ve sampled, with the requisite pine and hops. Tastes of the same, with some grapefruit coming through. A lingering caramel note hangs on the palate. Wonderful IPA.

22 oz. bottle. Beautiful gold color with a lasting creamy white head. Aroma is very hoppy and "earthy" with an almost evergreen hint. Flavor is a very nice strong hop flavor with a slight bitterness that finishes very clean with a mild "hop bite" onthe back of the tongue. A great beer.

Sampled courtesy of MmmcKay. Clear amber pour with minimal whitish head. Massively floral hop aroma, near perfect! Wildly bitter hop bomb. Citrus, pine, floral. Nice showing of just how hoppy you can make a beer. but not well balanced by any stretch of the imagination, but ain’t supposed to be! So i can certainly appreciate it for what it is, even though i’m not a hop head.

I was extremely fortunate to try two pints of this from a cask at Rustico that was dry hopped with both Columbus and Amarillo hops. The difference was amazing. The aroma was outrageous, so much so, that I was savoring my pint and people standing around me were intrigued by the aroma and asked what I was drinking. From the cask it poured a hazy, orange, amber with a slightly, spittle head. Aroma was of liquid hops, grapefruits, mangos, pine, lemons, resin, oranges, limes, a bit of juniper. The aroma from the dry hopping was unbelievable. Flavor is bitter, but also fruity, citrus fruits, some light toast and caramel with more pine. Finish, as you’d imagine, was bitter and slightly dry with just a touch of oil too. Good in the bottle, great dry hopped on cask.

[12 oz. Bottle] Pours a clear gold with a smallish off white head. Aroma is a lot of citrus hops with a touch of skunkiness, some caramel, and grapefruit. Really a bitter front on the first sip. This bottle might be a little older, because some of the hop flavor has faded and leaves an astringent bitterness behind. Lighter body than I was expecting. I think this will need some updating if I can get my hands on a fresher bottle.